News

Huawei Announcement Regarding Google’s Blacklisting

I am looking forward to attending the global launch of the brand new HONOR 20 Series at Battersea Evolution, London, SW8 tomorrow afternoon. HONOR are Huawei’s sub-brand and I was saddened this morning to read, in conjunction with my press invitation, a notice from Google cutting Huawei’s access to key Android apps and services following the United States’ move to blacklist the tech company. Essentially, Google has ceased to provide software and support to Huawei as part of President Trump’s blacklisting of the company and affiliates.

So, what does this mean if you own, at the least, one of the 59 million Huawei or Honor smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2019? Well, you will still be able to use your smartphone, it means that Huawei has to supply its own updates from SOSP to the version of Android running on its phones, rather than Google’s updates. It does this anyway, for its own domestic market in China. But it does mean that any new additions Google make to Android via their Google Play Services framework, will no longer be available to Huawei for its western phones.

Huawei apparently were not taken by surprise by this announcement and are said to have had a Plan B in place for a while, which includes working on its own operating system, they already have this in place in their smartwatches.

But this is an extremely bad day for Huawei, not only for their smartphones but also to their computer business…watch this space for further updates…

Notice on Twitter from Huawei UK

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Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)